Rail Transport

Rail Transport in Australia is a powerful enabler of the economy, the network of which is almost completely state owned. The railway operators however are mostly private. Compared to the size of the continent though, Australia’s rail transport isn’t as large as it could be with a total network of less than 35,000 kms.

Oz Railway Network Issues
As far as freight goes, private rail networks are used for the transport of goods such as suger cane, timber and iron ore. One of the defining features of Australian rail networks is the multiplicity of gauges in use. This is a byproduct of colonial times when a uniform gauge wasn’t a high priority. The problems become obvious when the lines meet – necessitating a change of trains where under normal circumstances, a single train would have been enough. Unfortunately, the solution to this problem isn’t simple with major disagreements between parties regarding who is to be responsible for the payment for unification of gauges.

Compared to roads, rail transport has never received as much attention from the Australian government for various reasons. However, the lack of efficient and extensive rail travel leads to inefficiencies in the transport of freight. A small portion of the Australian rail network is also electrified, and there are several initiatives afoot that seek to improve rail transport in Australia. Whether rail transport in Oz will improve over time remains to be seen, as it mostly comes down to how much political will there is for change.